The Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management got an A+ for diversity in recruitment practices as part of a recent benchmark study conducted by Diversity MBA Prep, an online community offering resources to women and minorities considering an MBA. Of 50 top MBA programs included in the study, only Johnson received the top grade.
As part of the MBA Advantage: Diversity Outreach Benchmarking Report, schools were evaluated based on the diversity of perspectives provided to candidates via their Web and social media presence, the range of activities and outreach directed toward candidates of diverse backgrounds, diversity at the school leadership level and the effectiveness of diversity recruitment initiatives.
Johnson earned top marks in all four categories, particularly for its outreach efforts and diversity recruitment results. Nsombi B. Ricketts, who directs Johnson’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion (ODI), credits several recent initiatives launched by ODI in recent years for the school’s top performance. It has tripled the number of diversity recruiting partnerships, revamped the website to include more resources for diverse applicants, added an LGBTQ checkbox to the full-time MBA application and launched an annual Johnson Women in Business recruiting conference, Ricketts notes.
“It is wonderful to see the amazing progress we have made in diversity and inclusion,” she said in a statement. “ODI will continue to drive these important results for the school.”
The Diversity Benchmarking Report also recognized Johnson for strong female representation among the dean’s senior staff. Johnson was one of only 11 schools in the study to claim 20 percent or more women as part of its Advisory Council. Overall, the report found that women account for less than 15 percent of advisory and governing boards at top business schools.
Harvard Business School, Stanford Graduate School of Business and the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, top programs in the most recent rankings by U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the Economist and the Financial Times, were awarded grades of C, B+ and A respectively as part of the diversity report.
View the MBA Advantage: Diversity Outreach Benchmarking Report.
